Singer Lydia Lucy is back at The Deco this Christmas, which is great news for everyone who’ve told us how much they enjoyed her Panto performances in Peter Pan last year, and Beauty and the Beast in 2015. And despite a busy schedule, Lydia had no hesitation, she tells us, in accepting the invitation to play Cinderella this Christmas.

Actually, to describe Lydia’s schedule as ‘busy’ is to grossly under-estimate it. Perhaps ‘manic’ is more appropriate, or even ‘non-stop’. The bottom line is this: Lydia works incredibly hard; and such is her flourishing career as a singer and performer, her workload as taken her to many parts of the world this year, as well as all over the UK.

So, by her own admission, appearing in Panto in Northampton throughout December is rare stability. And anyway, she loves being at The Deco. “I really do,” she says. “It’s a wonderful family atmosphere: I love the team behind the scenes who work so hard, and are always so helpful and obliging, I love working with the cast – some familiar faces, but those I hadn’t met before are fab – and the audiences at Deco Pantos are always so much fun, and fantastic to perform to.”

It was after her first Deco Panto appearance in ‘Beauty and the Beast’ that Lydia went off to compete in the TV talent show ‘The Voice’, where she made it through to the Grand Final, and finished third. She made such a big impression to so many, that she has barely had a day off since!

And though she can’t give too much away at the moment, she is already excited about what 2019 holds, with exciting opportunities about to come her way.

“I’d love to say more, but it’s all under wraps at the moment,” said Lydia. “Suffice to say I’m excited, but then I’m very lucky, because I’m doing what I love: singing and performing; it’s so busy, it’s crazy at times, but always great fun.

“But doing Panto is great fun too, and crazy in a different way, because we all have so much fun on and off stage.

“And what’s more, we’ve got another fantastic show lined up, with a great cast, and yet again, an amazingly talented team of young local performers and dancers supporting us, so it’s all very exciting.”

‘Cinderella’ is at The Deco Theatre, Abington Square, from December 7 to 29. For tickets, www.thedeco.co.uk, call the Box Office on 01604 491005, or call by in person between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Saturday.

Actor Chris Wills returns to The Deco Theatre this Christmas for his second Panto appearance as Prince Charming in Cinderella. He played the role successfully two and a half years ago, when The Deco put on its first Spring Panto, and is not only delighted to be doing it all again, but to be back in Northampton for a second successive year.

“Cinderella is a terrific Panto,” said Chris, who is originally from Wigan, in Lancashire, but now lives and works out of London. “I’m really excited to be back in Northampton, we’ve another great show, a fantastic cast again, and if the audiences are as wonderful as last year, then it’s going to be another wonderful Panto experience.

“The audiences generate a fantastic atmosphere: they make lots of noise, they’re interactive, and they all turn up with the purpose of having fun, and as a performer, that is exactly what we want!”

It has been a busy year for Chris, since he ended last year’s run of ‘Peter Pan’ at The Deco. For much of 2018 he has been on the road, travelling around the UK, Europe, and into Asia, performing in the touring production of Shakespeare’s ‘Merchant of Venice’.

“It’s been busy, it’s been fun and I’ve really enjoyed myself,” he said. “But it’s been intense, and doing Panto is obviously quite a contrast, though I’m very lucky as an actor to have a wide variety of opportunities.”

Chris will be starring in the Deco Panto alongside Lydia Lucy, Colin Ridgewell, Lee Bright, Clive Fletcher, Fern Roach, and Sammy Webb, who is also directing the show, his first at The Deco. “It’s another fantastic cast, Sam’s a great character on and off stage, and I’m really looking forward to working with him, his knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, Panto is awesome.

“The other thing which always really excites me is the consistently high standard of young, local performers who appear in Deco Panto’s as part of the Chorus, and once again I’m hearing how hard they’re working in preparation.

“Not only that, The Deco have a fantastic support staff behind the scenes; they really look after us and make us welcome; and for all of us, it becomes one big family for a month – and that includes the audiences!”

Chris is a perfect fit for Panto, as much of his work is with Children’s Theatre productions.

“I love it, and I love Panto,” he says. “Great Panto involves a good team, good songs, naff jokes and lots of fun, and that’s what we’ve got, and will be having, in our Cinderella show, and I can’t wait to get started.”

‘Cinderella’ runs at The Deco from December 8 to 30. For tickets: www.thedeco.co.uk, call the Box Office on 01604 491005, or pop by to The Deco, in Abington Square, between 10am and 4pm Monday to Saturday.

Actor Colin Ridgewell is heading back to Northampton this Christmas for his fifth Panto at The Deco Theatre, and this year he is back doing what he loves best: playing one of the – he’ll be one of the two Ugly Sisters, playing the role alongside Sam Webb, who is also the show’s director.

Colin, on the left in this picture of our Ugly Sisters, was the baddie in ‘Peter Pan’ last year, and loved being Captain Hook, a role he played superbly. But it was as a Dame in previous Panto appearances that won him a legion of fans at The Deco, and he’s looking forward to doing it all again in ‘Cinderella’, which runs from December 7 to 29.

“It’s great to be back at The Deco for another Panto, I’m really looking forward to being a Dame again,” said Colin. “It’s great to be working again with Lydia (Lucy), Chris (Wills), Clive (Fletcher), and Fern (Roach), and to be teaming up for the first time with Lee (Bright) and Sam; when we got together for the photo shoot earlier in the year there was immediate camaraderie and connection between us all.

“As others will tell you, if the cast get along well together, and genuinely have fun performing in the Panto – as we always do at The Deco – then it makes it even more enjoyable for the audience, they feel the buzz, and we all bounce of each other.

“The audiences are traditionally terrific at The Deco, every year they come along with the sole intention of enjoying themselves, being inter-active, and joining in the fun, and for us on stage it makes it all the more fulfilling and rewarding – and we absolutely love what we do.”

Colin, who first made a name for himself in the BBC’s popular ‘Grange Hill’ children’s TV show in the 1990s, says what also makes The Deco special for him is the team behind the scenes.

“The staff treat you like family, nothing’s too much trouble, it really is a pleasure to work there; and not just that, everyone involved with the production are totally professional and at the top of their game at all times,” he said.

“I should also point out the amazingly high standard of the young dancers who support us throughout the run – year on year they are outstanding, and they’ve made an enormous contribution to the success of our Pantos.”

On stage, and off it, laughter is never far away during Panto season at The Deco. Colin’s own funniest memory on stage was two years ago, and it still makes him chuckle now. “It was during ‘Snow White’ in 2016 – I was playing a Dame, and during a scene that I was in, one of my boobs popped!

“I carried on as though nothing had happened, but Nick Cochrane was having none of it, and had a field day; his reaction was hilarious, and the audience loved it,” said Colin. “Lee Bright is just as mischievous as Nick, so I’ll have to be on my guard!”

Colin and the cast will be appearing in Cinderella from December 7 to 29. Tickets can be bought online at www.thedeco.co.uk, by calling The Box Office on 01604 491005, or by popping by to The Deco on Abington Square, Northampton – across the road from BBC Northampton, and opposite Steffans the jewellers.

Sammy Webb, who will be playing one of the two Ugly Sisters in ‘Cinderella’ this December, is not only one of the stars of our Panto, he is also the boss! Sammy is directing the show, too. And The Deco could not have a better person at the helm: if anyone knows what makes good Panto, it is Sammy – a Panto fanatic, be it as a performer, director, or a member of the audience.

Indeed, Sammy’s love of Panto, and his expertise, is such that he is soon to start a PhD in Pantomime! And if that is not enough to prove beyond doubt his enthusiasm, two years ago he launched the annual British Pantomime Awards, which proved to be an instant success.

“I absolutely love Panto, and always have done,” said Sammy, who lives in Northamptonshire, and runs the Brackley Youth Theatre. “It’s why I co-founded the Great British Pantomime awards in 2016, which honours and rewards the best Pantos and performers from all over the country.

“Theatre has its Olivier awards, film has the BAFTAs, so why shouldn’t Panto have its own glamourous, and much deserved, awards night,” he said. “Since we launched it two years ago, it’s been really successful, and this year, for instance, we’ll have over 25 judges watching well more than a hundred shows all over the country.

“Among the awards given out, are for Best Panto, Best Comic, Best Double Act, Best Fairy, Best Baddie, Best Script, Best Special Effects.”

And Sammy is delighted to be working with The Deco for this year’s Christmas Panto. “The Deco’s reputation for top quality Panto snowballs year on year, and I’m absolutely delighted to be involved in ‘Cinderella’,” he said.

“We’ve got a fantastic cast of very talented performers, and everyone is so lovely to be around, not just the actors, but the team behind the scene; there’s a fantastic chemistry throughout the production, and that can only be good for making great Panto.

“It’s my first Panto at The Deco, so that’s really exciting,” he said. “I’ve directed a few Pantos before but since moving to Northamptonshire a few years ago; I was asked if I’d be interested in directing ‘Cinderella’ at The Deco, and I jumped at the chance, and the opportunity to be in it too!”

So as an expert in Panto, what makes a good show?

“For me personally, I love the relationship between audience and performer,” said Sammy. “I love the freedom of interaction with the audience during the show; the off-the-cuff laughs that you can have.

“One thing I picked up quickly was the camaraderie, the banter, and respect among the cast, and with the team behind the scenes, which is something I know is important to The Deco, and though it’s been said before, I totally agree that if the audience see you all having fun together on stage, and enjoying it as much as they are, then you’re on to a winner.”

And Sammy’s favourite memory of Panto? “I loved the late, great John Inman in Panto, the ultimate Panto Dame over many years until his death in 2007. He was awesome!

“But there have been, and are, many other amazing performers who do exactly what Panto should do: provide fantastic family entertainment, engage the audience, have fun while they’re doing it, and make great memories.

“If that’s what we can achieve at The Deco this December, then no one will be happier than me; and I’ve absolutely no reason to doubt that ‘Cinderella’ is going to be yet another Deco winner!”

For tickets for Cinderella at The Deco: www.thedeco.co.uk, or call the Box Office on 01604 491005. Alternatively, call in at The Deco, on Abington Square, between 10am and 4pm, Monday to Saturday.

For the girls of the Welland Valley Under 13s football team, it was a pre-season friendly with a difference!

Indeed, they had quite a shock when they turned up for a run-out, in preparation for their new league season, which begins next month (September). Because facing them across the other side of the pitch was the cast of The Deco Theatre’s Christmas Panto, ‘Cinderella’.

There was Cinderella herself, who fancied herself as a useful striker, though Lydia Lucy admitted later she much preferred singing to playing football. Buttons and Prince Charming took it all very seriously, while the two Panto Dames – Sam and Chris – almost gave the impression they might have played the game before!

And by the time the girls – who play in the Northamptonshire Womens’ and Girls’ Macron Football League – had come to terms with who they were up against, they had conceded two goals!

But the result was academic. And for the record, it finished in a 2-2 draw. This was all in the name of fun. The Welland Valley girls won a Deco competition to feature in the promotion video for this year’s Panto, and the 7-a-side football match will be the main feature of the film.

“It was fantastic fun, and the girls loved every minute of it,” said Welland Valley coach Rob Golding. “We were absolutely thrilled to be chosen to appear in the video, the cast were all a pleasure to be with, and we’re all really looking forward to meeting up again with them in December when we go to see the Panto.”

After Buttons and Dame Sam gave the Panto cast a first half lead, Welland Valley fought back in the second. Molly Jones scored a penalty, but the girls were still heading for defeat until Dame Sam scored a dramatic own goal in the last minute of the game.

“As a footballer I actually think Sammy Webb makes a great Panto Dame,” said Buttons, played by Lee Bright, and his team’s second goal scorer. “Fancy kicking the ball into the wrong goal – it was outrageous; we were playing to win!

“Actually, a draw was definitely a fair result, but most importantly we all had great fun, we were made extremely welcome by everyone at Welland Valley, and we wish them all the very best for their new season.”

‘Cinderella’ at The Deco, runs from December 7th to 29th. For tickets, which start from just £10, go to www.thedeco.co.uk, or call the Box Office on 01604 491005

The Deco is a magnificently restored 1930s cinema located in the heart of Northampton offering a variety of affordable meeting rooms and functions for corporate, social and theatrical events.

Supervised by English Heritage, the multi-million pound restoration has combined the original, stunning art deco styling with state-of-the-art technology. The 900 seat Auditorium in conjunction with The Doré and The Glen suites make this unique facility both flexible and practical.

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